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March 11, 2017 by mdonahoe

DIY Shiplap Fireplace

Diy Shiplap Fireplace

I’m so excited to be sharing our DIY Shiplap Fireplace with you guys today! This project was a beast that took us many months to complete but it is absolutely and completely finished and I couldn’t be more excited!

From the very first time we saw our house, we knew it was a dream come true for old-house lovers like ourselves.  The only thing it was missing?  Yeah, you guessed it–a fireplace!  The big space between these two windows was literally screaming at me to install a fireplace and an outdoor plastic decking beautiful to entertain and spend quality time in the outdoors.

Here’s a little peak at what the space looked like before we started building…

Pardon the mess because, ya know, real life.  That Hoosier cabinet is right where the fireplace sits now.

Now, nowhere in our budget did we have room to actually tear into our wall and install vents and chimneys and all that stuff.  But I also knew that the small, flat “faux” fireplaces that are so popular now just weren’t going to cut it.  I wanted the fireplace to look authentic, like it was really a part of our home, and I also really wanted to live out the dream of snuggling up by a warm fire and reading a book on a cold winter day. (That’s not too much to ask, right?!)

By approaching the project as if we were constructing a real fireplace and then adding electric logs, I got my wish.  Our fireplace surround is both completely “faux”, and yet is fully functional as a heating unit. The best part?! It only cost around $400 to make, and that includes the space-heater!

Are you ready to take a peak behind the scenes?!

I’ll warn you that my husband is not a “follow directions” kind of guy.  He built the fireplace and he literally made up the plans in his head as he went along.  As such, I don’t have a hard and fast set of directions for what we did, but I can show you what it looks like inside so you have a better understanding of what’s going on, as well as how you can customize it for your space!

The first thing he did was build the frame out of 2×4 boards.

This shot is the back view of the fireplace frame.  You can see that he built out a box for our space heater.  The top of the hearth was made out of two 2x12s, because that is what best fit our space.  You can also see how he supported them underneath with 2x4s running the width of the boards.  After this, he moved it into our house, but it was very heavy and you could certainly build the whole thing in your home, right where you want it installed.  The next step was to attach the frame to the wall.

Okay, I just couldn’t resist sharing this photo.  My husband is an identical twin, and it took both of them to lift it and secure it into position.  My sister-in-law and I sat back and offered encouragement.  And by that I mean we laughed at them.  🙂

Once they drilled the two by fours into the wall, it was time to hang the mantle.  We actually chopped down our own tree and made our very own rough-hewn mantle, which I will be sharing very soon!

You can see the two metal bars coming out of the middle of the fireplace–that is what supports the mantle and how we attached it to the fireplace surround.

At this point we attached the mantle and screwed it into place to make sure it was secure.  To “shiplap” our mantle, we just built up around the frame with 2×6’s all the way up to the ceiling.  Which we then dry walled over the popcorn mess, but that’s another post for another day. 🙂

diy shiplap fireplace

Lets talk about our heating element for a minute.  For the longest time, we considered going with one of the flat LED fireplaces that essentially look like flat screen TVs.  I was totally fine with this, but my husband thought it would ruin the vibe we were going for, and in the end, I think he was right.

We found this Duraflame birch log heater at our local Menards. It actually heats up to 1000 square feet, which really came in handy when our furnace broke a few months ago!!  When you turn it on, the logs glow, and it casts a flickering light on the wall behind it.  I can personally attest that it is every bit as mesmerizing as a real fire. While our particular model is no longer available (we had to buy the display model just to get it!), this is the most comparable one available.

diy shiplap fireplace

The brick surround in the fireplace is actually whitewashed brick paneling cut to fit.  To really build out the hearth and keep it from just being a plain ol’ box, my husband added some angle-cut trim around the top and the bottom.  I think it was the perfect finishing touch!

And by the way, the “gather” sign hanging on the mantle was handmade Heidi of Feather and Birch. Doesn’t she make the most amazing signs?!

So what do you guys think?!  My husband is by no means a master woodworker or builder and I think he did an amazing job!  Simple? Yes.  Quick?  Not so much.  But totally, totally worth it in the end!

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Comments

  1. Gigi says

    May 21, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    Where did you get the rug in this room with the fireplace? It is very nice

    Reply
    • mdonahoe says

      May 28, 2017 at 3:08 pm

      Thank you so much! It is from wayfair!!!

      Reply
    • Kerrigan says

      March 28, 2020 at 8:52 pm

      What type of wood did you use for the shiplap, and how did you do the edges did you miter them?

      Reply
  2. ig says

    August 3, 2017 at 9:26 pm

    I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I absolutely loved every bit of it.

    I’ve got you book-marked to look at new things you post…

    Reply
  3. Leigh Ann says

    September 25, 2017 at 8:51 pm

    What color white did you use?

    Reply
    • Kelle says

      October 28, 2017 at 9:00 pm

      I, too would like to know what paint you used and if it was flat or satin.

      Reply
      • mdonahoe says

        October 29, 2017 at 3:32 pm

        Hi, Kelle! We used off the shelf white in eggshell!!

        Reply
  4. Amanda says

    October 10, 2017 at 1:12 pm

    What are the dimensions?

    Reply
  5. Ronda says

    November 8, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    What size is your “gather” sign

    Reply
    • mdonahoe says

      November 11, 2017 at 2:22 pm

      Hi! It is the largest size by Feather and Birch!

      Reply
  6. McKayla says

    November 13, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    Est. on the cost for final project?!? I’m absolutely in love with this and want my other half to build this ASAP! Lol

    Reply
    • McKayla says

      November 13, 2017 at 6:53 pm

      Never mind I see!!! lol didn”t see the cost.

      Reply
  7. Megan says

    November 26, 2017 at 7:04 pm

    This looks amazing!! What color stain is the wood mantle?

    Reply
    • mdonahoe says

      November 27, 2017 at 2:06 pm

      Thank you so much! We used mine wax special walnut!!

      Reply
  8. Samantha says

    January 4, 2018 at 11:28 pm

    How did you get that affect on your brick panelling?

    Reply
    • mdonahoe says

      January 5, 2018 at 3:45 pm

      We actually bought it that way in a sheet from Menards!

      Reply
  9. Joelle says

    February 17, 2018 at 10:10 pm

    Looks great! What material did you use at the base (the part of you can sit on)?

    Reply
    • mdonahoe says

      February 19, 2018 at 7:42 pm

      We used 2x12s and 2x10s, then trimmed it out in 1x4s!

      Reply
  10. this contact form says

    April 3, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    Greetings! Very useful advice within this article!
    It is the little changes that produce the most important changes.
    Thanks a lot for sharing!

    Reply
  11. Cristi Cumming says

    May 18, 2018 at 12:46 am

    Keep up the great work guyz.

    Reply
  12. Stephanie says

    May 31, 2018 at 2:46 pm

    Hi! Would you happen to have link to your rug? Or the name of it? I love it!

    Reply
    • mdonahoe says

      June 2, 2018 at 7:16 pm

      Thank you! It is from Wayfair! I believe it is the Ford blue area rug!

      Reply
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    August 9, 2018 at 3:18 am

    This piece of writing will help the internet people for building up new website or even a weblog from start to end.

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  14. Laura says

    October 23, 2018 at 12:13 pm

    Did you buy the trim around the top and base of the hearth, or did you cut it from a board yourself? If so, how did you do it?

    Reply
  15. Lauren says

    October 29, 2018 at 10:29 am

    What are the dimensions of the fireplace and hearth?

    Reply
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  17. Marybeth Solari says

    December 27, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    […] We’ve already done a few things to this space since moving in a little over a year ago including painting the walls white, replacing the range, switching out the light fixture, and adding under/over cabinet lighting. […]

    Reply

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